Old Broadway Synagogue

Old Broadway Synagogue
Old Broadway Synagogue in 2014
Religion
Affiliation	Orthodox Judaism
Rite	Nusach Ashkenaz
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Synagogue
Status	Active
Location
Location	15 Old Broadway,Manhattanville,Harlem,Manhattan,New York City,New York10027
Country	United States
Location inManhattan
Geographic coordinates	40°48′55″N73°57′27″W
Architecture
Architect(s)	Meisner and Uffner
Type	Synagogue
Style	Gothic Revival
Date established	1911(as a congregation)
Completed	1923
Website
oldbroadwaysynagogue.blogspot
Old Broadway Synagogue
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Area	0.1 acres (0.040 ha)
NRHP referenceNo.	01001440
Added to NRHP	January 11, 2002

Old Broadway Synagogue,officiallyChevra Talmud Torah Anshei Marovi,is anOrthodoxJewishsynagoguelocated at 15 Old Broadway, in theManhattanvilleneighborhood ofHarlem,Manhattan,inNew York City,New York,United States. The congregation practises in theAshkenazirite.

The congregation was incorporated in 1911 under the name Chevra Talmud Torah Anshei Marovi by Morris Schiff, aPolishimmigrantwho lived in the Harlem area, an area with a high Jewish population at the time. As of 2011,the congregation claimed to represent the diversity of theWest Harlemcommunity,including students fromColumbia University,Barnard College,and theJewish Theological Seminary.

Built in 1923, the synagogue building was listed on theNational Register of Historic Placesin January 2002.

Description

The Synagogue is located at 15 Old Broadway (a rare vestige of theBloomingdale Roadin Manhattan). The Old Broadway Synagogue is a "vernacular" style synagogue built in 1923 by the architectural firm of Meisner and Uffner. The congregation formed from the mostlyAshkenazicJewish population of Russian and Polish immigrants to New York during the 1880s who had made their way up to Central Harlem, then migrated to blocks west. The members initially met in storefronts and purportedly in the back room of a bar until the congregation purchased a house on Old Broadway. This structure was torn down shortly thereafter to make way for the synagogue. The congregation had an active Talmud Torah (Hebrew school) probably from its founding until the 1960s or 1970s. Among its early rabbis were the authorSimon Glazerand Shepard Brodie.

The Synagogue is perhaps best known for its late rabbi,Jacob Kret,a formerRosh yeshivainBialystokand laterOstrów Mazowiecka,both in Poland. Afterthe division of Poland between Germany and USSR,Rabbi Kret was arrested by the Soviet authorities while attempting to bring his students to relative safety inLithuania.He was then deported to a Soviet labor camp, and was later released. After the war, Rabbi Kret headed a yeshiva that was in or associated with the Displaced Persons camp in Zeilsheim, a section ofFrankfurt.By the time Rabbi Kret became the spiritual leader of the Old Broadway Synagogue in 1950, many of the founding families had moved away. Rabbi Kret recruitedHolocaustsurvivors who were moving to New York at that time to settle in the vicinity of the synagogue. These survivors, many of whom came from Polish Hasidic backgrounds, helped fill the synagogue in the 1950s and 1960s. By the time most of these had moved away, in the 1970s and 1980s, Rabbi Kret had become amashgiach(kosher food supervisor) in the nearbyBarnard Collegedining hall as well as a Talmud tutor at theJewish Theological Seminary of Americastudents. As such Rabbi Kret had a deep influence on manyColumbia University,Barnard College and Jewish Theological Seminary students until he retired from the Synagogue in November 1997. He died in February 2007.

Today

Since 2000, the Synagogue has attracted young people who live in Harlem andWashington Heights,as well as fromMorningside Heightsand theUpper West Side.The Synagogue offers a weekly class onPirkei Avot(Ethics of the Fathers), a section of theTalmudcontaining ethical maxims.

Dr. Paul Radensky, Museum Educator for Jewish Schools for theMuseum of Jewish Heritage- A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, is the president of the congregation. The synagogue also has a "Shabbaton" once a month where they bring in a guest scholar, whether that be a speaker or a Rabbi to come and speak, in addition to having meals for Friday night, Sabbath day, and Sabbath afternoon.

External links

• Media related toOld Broadway Synagogueat Wikimedia Commons
• Official website
• Member blog